Oh man did we get pounded by a hail storm up on the lakes today. My guiding partner & good friend Steve and I both ended up in the woods with our customers, all hunkering under some trees to not get pounded by what ended up being a half an hour of a hard hail storm. The rain lasted for a couple of hours and none of us went prepared. I had a rain jacket, but no waterproof pants and Carhartt trousers soak up the rain let me tell you! I will always pack the rain pants from this day forward.
Being prepared is one of the most important things we can do on the water.
The Metolius Drake hatch is not by any means stellar quite yet. Drake fishing has been a little slower than we’d like to see for this time of year and this stage of the hatch. I am confident that it will improve soon.
PMD hatches have been about the same. Someone I talked to last week said they ran into the best PMD hatch they had ever seen on any river. So being in the right place at the right time is good.
Evening fishing is picking up with Caddis and Rusty Spinners.
Look for some BWO’s to mix in on any day you’re there this month.
Nymphing is very good, especially on the euro rig. Perdigons, Walts, Frenchies, Little Golden Stones, eggs and Zebras.
Some big Bull Trout are lurking around. Streamers have been working well for getting a good follow, and often a great take.
The Lower Deschutes likely has another week of Salmonfly and Goldenstone action, but Caddis and Pale Evening Duns are coming on strong and at times are what the fish would rather eat.
Water conditions are excellent and the fishing is good if you don’t paint yourself into the box of just using big dries.
Nymphs and swung streamers have been picking up some great fish too.
Coming up for the week, we have a couple of guides available each day and next week have openings for you too.
The Crooked is really coming back. Good hatches of Caddis, good action on #16 Purple Haze, great euro nymphing on small Rainbow Warriors and Perdigons.
Zebra Midges, Winklers, Scuds, Soft Hackles and Caddis Pupa are all hot nymphs now.
Water is a little below normal summer flows. I am not sure why, but might have to do with the drought declaration and allocated water from before they knew the reservoir was going to practically overflow. If you know the answer for sure, write me!
The Fall River is good. Fish are spread out and it’s more of a hunt (which I like). Crowded conditions are the norm there, and you’ll want to move around, and go early and late in the day to avoid the mid day rush.
PMD, Caddis, BWO, Midges, Ants, Beetles, Hippie Stompers are all good dries.
Eggs and Euro Jigs and Perdigons are good for the nymphs and we love our little streamers out there.
The Upper Deschutes is good. Headwaters section is good nymph action and streamers too.
The Float from Wickiup to Bull Bend is good, mostly on nymphs but def. hit the banks and logs with streamers and don’t be afraid to throw some serious meat. Fishing is from the boat up here and we have guides available . We also have a shuttle service we now recommend for up there if you want, get in touch and we can help you move your truck around.
The Middle Deschutes is good, still running a bit high but it looks good. Be prepared for a little more pushy water when you wade some of the stretches. I like a wading staff!
PED, PMD, Caddis, Rusty Spinner, Purple Haze all good on the dry side.
Nymph action is hard to beat and you know we recommend your euro set up here too.
The McKenzie is phenomenal fishing again. Water levels are awesome and there is some dry fly action during the day and excellent nymph and streamer fishing.
Guides are available through FFP almost any day, so book now for a good day.
Caddis #14 orange, big Yellow Mayflies #12, Peacock Caddis #12-14, Parachute Adams #10-12, Chubby’s and Perdigons, Mega Prince, Possie Bugger and Euro Streamers.
Mostly the Mountain Creeks like Tumalo and Whychus are too high and fast still.
Three Creek Lake is going to be closed until well into July for a complete road reconstruction. That sucks! Normally we usually gain the 1st access of the year on Rodeo Weekend and this weekend is the Sisters Rodeo. Yes haw for that, and bummer for our hometown lake access.
Crane Prairie is a little slow. Not terrible, but not great. Chironomids, Blood Worms and Balanced leeches are the flies you’ll get them with…. and patience. I am hopeful we get better fishing as this bright full moon cycle starts waning.
East Lake is good. Some people are using the resort to launch bigger boats (for a fee- call them), but I am dedicated to the drift boat there this season.
It appears there will be no docks again in 2023.
Balanced Leeches, Chironomids, Callibaetis Nymmphs and Beetles and Ants. So far not much in the way of a hatch, but one thing is for sure, on mountain lakes a degree or two higher can get the mayflies ripping, so just because it wasn’t happening yesterday, doesn’t mean that in 3 days it won’t be super good. I expect Callibaetis very soon!
PaulinaLake is good too. Balanced Leeches, Assassin’s, Chironomids. Today just as the hail hit there were flying ants just beginning. I’m hopeful that tomorrow we will we see that hatch get off to a better day and the fish will respond.
At Paulina there are also no docks installed yet, and the bathrooms are still locked. WTF USFS???!!!!
If this makes you as mad as it does me, call the Bend Office at (541)383-5300 and tell them we expect bathrooms and docks to be installed immediately.
Write a letter to the District Ranger Kevin Larkin, and the Newberry Crater Monument Manager Dawn Stender and CC their boss Holly Jewkes and tell them to open things up, get bathrooms open, docks in and stop messing around with services we expect.
Address to write is:
Deschutes National Forest
63095 Deschutes Market Road
Bend, OR 97701
BTW, Paulina Lake CG Boat Ramp (and CG) will be closed until about July 1 due to Hazard Trees. I am up there several days a week and haven’t heard a chainsaw yet, so I really don’t think we are getting an honest answer about that. But I can tell you the entrance is roped off and a big ROAD CLOSED sign is installed.
Hosmer is open and fishing pretty good. Tonn our guide was up there and did well on an intermediate and a water boatman, and Steve was there 2 days ago and ran into a good Ant hatch.
Leeches, Soft Hackles, Ice Cream Cones, Damsel Nymphs and Callibaetis Nymphs with hatches of the latter coming on really really soon.
It’s late, I gotta go to sleep so I can get up and early and get the boat ready for another day.
See you on the water, and thank you for the folks who decide to speak up and be involved to get facilities opened up for all of us.
What I fear is happening is the USFS is going to open things later and later in the year, and lock us out earlier in the year unless we show we are a force that expects more from them. We’ve seen the early closures of bathrooms and early removal of docks. What’s next? Road Closed Signs and no access is my guess.
Don’t let it happen.
Jeff